Saturday, May 19, 2007

Doing organic on the cheap

This can be hard to do; organic food can be so expensive.

I admit I don't always buy organic because it does make the shopping receipt grow in pounds.

thelondonpaper - a free evening paper which is handed out to all the busy commuters in London as they leave work -has a page every day called 'greenlondon' which I think is quite good, and talks about environmental issues pertinent to London, and the world at large.

Earlier this week it recommended that if you cannot afford to switch to an ALL-organic shopping basket, you should really try to consider doing so when you buy these:

- Flour
- Potatoes
- Bread
- Apples
- Pears
- Grapes
- Strawberries
- Green Beans
- Tomatoes
- Cucumber

The rationale behind this is that the Pesticide Action Group Network has recently produced a list of the top ten worst offenders for pesticide residues.

On a personal note, I always try to buy organic milk. For one, I am sure the taste is better, albeit marginal (maybe psychological?!). Additionally, it generally contains more nutrients, antioxidents and good stuff. This BBC article explains in more depth.

So do try to buy organic; and definitely buy local whenever you can, over organic i.e. it's a 'lesser-evil', I reckon, to buy a pesticide-grown tomato which has been grown down the road than an organically-grown tomato from another continent. Failing that, grow your own if you can! (not sure if this would work for all things though.... I'd be pushed for space to grow a cow haha!)

1 comment:

Missy said...

Yes, buying locally is a good way to go. I just placed an order with a local farmer for a side of beef for my freezer. And the summer markets will be opening up soon. So looking forward to that.

We're putting our own little garden in this weekend. I love home grown veggies.